Attached handle for carrier carton

ABSTRACT

An open ended tubular carrier carton, particularly for two parallel rows of bottles, which is folded from a flat blank to form a sleeve in which the upper regions of the bottles are located in apertures in the side walls of the carton, is provided with a carrying handle extending transversely across the carton. The handle is formed from a separate blank and has a central portion for gripping by hand and tongues at each end which are located inside the carton, ears extending from each of the tongues engaging the inside of the carton. Apertures at the ends of the handle also receive and locate at least one bottle in each of the rows.

1 Aug. 15, 1972 ATTACHED HANDLE FOR CARRIER CARTON [72] Inventor: Josef Detzel,Kempten, Allgau,Ger-

many

[73] Assignee: Lever Brothers Company, New

York, NY.

Weiner ..229/52 A 3,248,004 4/1966 Weiss 206/65 E X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 805,142 5/1951 Germany ..229/52 A 665,387 6/1963 Canada ..229/52 A Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead A!t0rney-Louis F. Kline, Jr., Melvin H. Kurtz and Edgar E. Ruff l 5 7 1 ABSTRACT An open ended tubular carrier carton, particularly for two parallel rows of bottles, which is folded from a flat blank to form a sleeve in which the upper regions of the bottles are located in apertures in the side walls of the carton, is provided with a carrying handle extending transversely across the carton. The handle is formed from a separate blank and has a central portion for gripping by hand and tongues at each end which are located inside the carton, ears extending from each of the tongues engaging the inside of the carton. Apertures at the ends of the handle also receive and locate at least one bottle in each of the I'OWS.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUB 15 I972 SHEET 1 [IF 2 INVENTOR JOSEF DETZEL I BY w his ATT NEY ATTACHED HANDLE FOR CARRIER CARTON BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a carrier carton for a pair of parallel rows of containers, the carton comprising an open ended sleeve having apertures to receive and locate the upper ends of the containers, and a carrying handle.

Carrier cartons for a plurality of bottles and similar containers are already known, a commonly adopted form of carrier carton comprising a flat blank folded into an open ended sleeve with the joining edges of the blank secured to each other by an adhesive or an interlocking arrangement of tabs and slots or the like. To enable the carrier cartons to be easily carriedit has been proposed to provide finger grip holes at the top of the carrier which, however, are difficult to carry. It has also been proposed to strike a carrying handle from the top wall of a carrier but, because the amount of material available limits the distance by which such carrying handles can be spaced above the top wall of the carrier, these carrying handles are difficult to grip and uncomfortable in use. It has also been proposed to use separate loose handles disposed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the carrier but as previously proposed loose handles are liable to tear or cause the carrier to tear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a carrier having inclined upper side walls provided with apertures through which the containers extend, and having a firm strong carrying handle.

This object, as well as other objects and advantages which will become apparent in the following description, are achieved, according to the present invention, by providing an open ended tubular carrier carton for a pair of parallel rows of containers comprising in combination a one-piece blank folded along parallel fold lines to form a carrier having a pair of opposed vertical side walls, a horizontal top wall, a pair of inwardly inclined upper side walls between the vertical side walls and the top wall, two bottom wall panels each attached to one of the vertical side walls and adapted to be secured one to another to secure the carton in the erected condition, and an elongated handle formed from a separate blank. Apertures are formed in the inclined upper side walls to receive and locate the upper regions of the containers. The handle has a central portion for gripping and carrying a loaded carton and a tongue at each end of the handle, laterally opposite outwardly extending ears being formed on each of the tongues. Openings are formed in each of the upper side walls, one edge of each of the openings being defined by the fold line between the top wall and the inclined side wall and slits extending from the opening parallel to and spaced from said fold lines through which the tongues .of the handle can be inserted so that the handle extends transversely of the carton with the ears engaging the underside of said fold lines. Apertures are also formed in the handle adapted to receive and locate the upper region of at least one container in each of the parallel rows when the carrier is carried by the handle.

achieved according to the load to be carried, and the tubular carrier itself not unduly weakened by the slits necessary for insertion of the handle. The handle can be long enough to enable it to be readily gripped and it can be collapsed flat to the shape of the top of the carrier when not in use. Moreover, because the openings in the handle receive and locate at least one container in each row the firmness of the handle is improved.

By adapting the openings in the handle to support the containers which are located thereby the load exerted by the weight of the pack on the ears of the tongues is reduced thus reducing the possibility of tearing of the handle or the carrier still further.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a flat blank for forming a tubular carrier carton. I

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a flat blank for forming a handle. I

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of a flat blank for forming an alternative handle.

FIG. 4 shows a sectional side elevation of a carton erected from the blank of FIG. 1 with two rows of bottles and a handle of the blank illustrated in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS The embodiment shown is particularly designed for containing two parallel rows of bottles. The blank shown in FIG. 1 is provided withparallel fold lines 1, 2 and 3 which define a top wall 4, two upper side walls 5, side walls 6 and bottom flaps 7. The bottom flaps 7 are adapted to be secured together in any well known manner, e.g. by an adhesive, to form an open ended tubular sleeve. Apertures 8 in the upper side walls 5 adjacent the fold line are shaped to receive and locate the necks or closures of the bottles to be contained.

Openings 9 midway along the upper side walls have one edge defined by the fold line 1 and on the other three edges by the edges 10 and 11. Slits 12 extend in alignment with the edge 11 beyond each of the edges 10 parallel with the fold line 1 into the upper side walls. The edge of the opening 10 formed by the fold line I is recessed at 13.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a handle comprises a central portion 14 having tongues 15 at each end provided with laterally opposite outwardly extending ears 16, the edges 17 of the ears extending normal to the longitudinal axis of the handle. Apertures 18 at each end of the handle substantially correspond with the apertures 8 except that they are elongated in the'longitudinal between the extreme ends of a pair of slits l2 substan tially corresponds with the width of the handle across the two ears 16.

FIG. 4 shows the carton blank of FIG. 1 and the handle of FIG. 2 erected to contain ten bottles. In the erected condition, side walls 6 are vertical and the upper side walls 5 are inwardly inclined towards the top wall 4. The upper regions of the bottles formed by the necks or closures of the bottles project through the apertures 8 and are located thereby in the carrier.

The tongues of the handle have been inserted through-the slits 12 in the upper side walls of the carrier so that the tongues are within the carrier. As shown in FIG. 4 the handle is in the carrying position in which the ears 17 of the tongues are in engagement with the undersides of the fold lines 1 joining the upper side walls to the top wall. The central portion 14 of the handle fits within the recesses 13 and the upper regions of bottles in the middle of the carton project through and are located in the apertures 18 formed in the handle.

The handle can be folded down from the carrying position to conform to the shape of the carrier by folding the handle from the position shown and sliding the handle down in the plane of the upper side walls. This sliding is facilitated by the apertures 18 being elongated in the longitudinal direction whilst locating the upper regions of the bottles in the longitudinal direction of the carrier.

The flaps 19 can be folded out of the plane of the central portion of the handle to provide finger holes for carrying purposes. I Y

When the carrier is lifted by the handle the weight of the bottles located in the handle is largely supported directly by the handle. The weight of the remaining bottles is taken by the ears engaging within the carrier. The location of the bottles in the handle also adds a degree of firmness to the handle and its location relative to the carrier.

The width of the handle, and the ears, can be made large enough to support the load to be carried, and the carrier can be arranged to carry even a fairly large number of bottles. If desired, the tongues can be widened so that two apertures 18 are formed in each end of the handle.

FIG. 3 shows a slightly modified handle from that shown in FIG. 2. The handle again comprises a central portion 14 having tongues 15 at each end but in this embodiment the handle is strengthened adjacent the apertures 18 by forming the cars 16 over less than the length of the tongues so that the apertures 18 are disposed wholly within the tongues.

What is claimed is:

1. An open ended tubular carrier carton for a pair of parallel rows of containers, comprising in combination a one-piece blank folded along parallel fold lines to form a carrier having a pair of opposed vertical side walls, a horizontal top wall, a pair of inwardly inclined upper side walls between the vertical side walls and the top wall, two bottom wall panels each attached to one of the vertical side walls and adapted to be secured one to another to secure the carton in the erected condition, apertures formed in the inclined upper side walls to receive and locate the upper regions of the containers, and an elongated handle formed from a separate blank having a central portion for gripping and carrying a loaded carton, a tongue at each of the ends of the handle, laterally opposite outwardly extending ears on each of the tongues, openings formed in the upper side walls, one edge of each of the openings being defined by the fold lines between the top wall and the inclined side walls, slits extending from the opening parallel to and spaced from said fold lines through which the tongues of the handle can be inserted so that the handle extends transversely of the carton with the ears engagin the underside of said fold lines, and aper- 

1. An open ended tubular carrier carton for a pair of parallel rows of containers, comprising in combination a one-piece blank folded along parallel fold lines to form a carrier having a pair of opposed vertical side walls, a horizontal top wall, a pair of inwardly inclined upper side walls between the vertical side walls and the top wall, two bottom wall panels each attached to one of the vertical side walls and adapted to be secured one to another to secure the carton in the erected condition, apertures formed in the inclined upper side walls to receive and locate the upper regions of the containers, and an elongated handle formed from a separate blank having a central portion for gripping and carrying a loaded carton, a tongue at each of the ends of the handle, laterally opposite outwardly extending ears on each of the tongues, openings formed in the upper side walls, one edge of each of the openings being defined by the fold lines between the top wall and the inclined side walls, slits extending from the opening parallel to and spaced from said fold lines through which the tongues of the handle can be inserted so that the handle extends transversely of the carton with the ears engaging the underside of said fold lines, and apertures in the handle adapted to receive and locate the upper region of at least one container in each of the parallel rows when the carrier is carried by the handle.
 2. A carrier carton according to claim 1 in which the openings in the handle are adapted to support the containers received and located therein. 